Lamp shades



C. RICK LAMP SHADES Dec. 23, 1958 Filed June 22, 1956 INVENTOR 6/ /5175? AmK WILLIS 8. P105.

ATTORNEY LAMP SHADES Chester Rick, Peekskill, N. Y.

Application June 22, 1956, Serial No. 593,112

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-428) This invention relates to lamp shades.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lamp shade which, when assembled, will be quite rigid and strong, and yet' which may be sold unassembled, and which may be readily assembled by anyone without skill or tools; and which may be packed in a much smaller space than if it were packed assembled, with consequent saving in costs of packing, shipping, damage, storage and merchandising; and which by reason of the economies made possible by avoiding the high costs of shop assembly and bulky packaging, permits the product to be offered as considerably better value, higher quality, lower price.

.It is a further object to provide a shade which, in addition to adequate strength and rigidity, possesses a degree of resiliency so as to make it less liable to damage, and which may have the cover quickly and easily placed, or replaced, or especially fabricated of various materials and designs.

An example of this invention is hereafter described and is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a sectional elevation of one embodiment of the device. Fig. 2 is a detail on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail showing a different form of attachment of the cover. Fig. 5 shows alternative type of arm socket. Fig. 6 shows a different form of shade.

The shade is here shown in a form adapted to be attached to a lamp socket 10 carrying a lamp bulb 11. In this particular form the hub 12 is threaded so that it may be secured onto the male thread customarily found on outlet sockets.

The hub has distributed around its periphery a series of lugs 14, each adapted to support an outwardly extending arm 17 and to hold it against dropping down and against turning to the side. In the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 six such lugs are shown, each containing a well 15 and terminating in a fork 16, the well and fork being of a size and shape to receive the spring wire of which the arms 17 are made.

Each arm 17 is bent upwardly as shown at 18, near its inner end, and then having its extreme end bent downwardly as shown at 19. The proportions are such that the bent end 19 will fit in the well 15 and the upwardly bent portion 18 will fit in the fork 16 at an angle, to hold the arms 17 securely in the hub 12.

The bent end 19 is preferably so shaped that when it is fitted into the well 15 the outer end of each arm 17 will engage and support a vertical bar 20 and the spring arm 17 is held against downward and lateral movement by well 15, and the fork 16, and yet the arm may be lifted out of the lug 14 altogether, at will.

Each spring arm 17 is preferably attached to the ver tical bar 20 by a detachable pivot 22, and the arm and bar are so connected that the outward spring pressure of the arm 17 exerts outward pressure throughout the length of each bar 20. If it is desired to place the pivotal United States Patent C "cc Patented Dec. 23, 1958 connection near one end of the bar, the pivot 22 may be provided with a stop, to limit the inward movement of the free end of the bar, to hold it out far enough to place tension on the shade cover 24. Such stop pivots are well known and need not be shown here.

l prefer, however, to place the pivot toward the center of the bar 20 so that the outward pressure of the arm is distributed both below and above the pivotal point.

The vertical bar 20 may conveniently take the form of a channel such as is customarily used in an umbrella, with the flanges turned inwardly, and the end of the arm 17 is provided with a book 21 which fits within the channel and engages a cross pin 23. Or the channel sides may be dimpled, alternative to a pin 23.

The cover 24 may be made of a continuous flexible material, such as paper, fabric, or plastic, or any numher (six shown) of fiat, more or less rigid sheets which are attached together at the vertical bars. In either case, the peripheral length of the shade cover will be such as to extend around all the bars 20 and stretch between them, taking the stress exerted by the spring arms 17, so that the cover will be held by friction in a uniform position about the center of the shade.

In Fig. 5 there is shown an alternative form of socket for use in place of the lugs 14 containing the well 15 and fork 16 previously described. Both of these sockets have been designed so that the hub 12 may be die-cast, and in the form of Fig. 5 separate segments 25 and 26 are provided on opposite sides of the wire, shaped to form between them a socket for an arcuate end 27 for the arm 17. The exact shape of the socket is not important provided only that it holds the arm 17 in place and can be manufactured inexpensively.

In Figs. 4 and 6 two alternative forms of shades are shown. In the construction shown in Fig. 6 a sleeve of flexible material 28 is formed of a length and height suitable for the size of the shade desired and a plurality of translucent or ornamental panels 29, each of a size and shape when attached to the flexible sleeve to extend between the bars. Such a shade can be made very ornamental and yet it may fold back upon itself for packing, as shown in Fig. 6. It will be understood that the space between the panels on the flexible sleeve is preferably sufficient to permit the shade to be folded as described.

In the form of the shade shown in Fig. 4 there is provided a plurality of panels 30, each of a size and shape to extend from ,one bar to the next and each held in place by prongs 31 attached to the bars and extending thru suitable openings in the panels.

When it is desired to use this frame to form a shade of a pronounced conical form each of the bars 20 may be provided with a small hook 32 to overcome the tendency of the shade to slide down towards its apex. In general, however, this will not be necessary because of the high co-efficient of friction of any ofthe plastics from which the shade may be made.

The arms 17 may be formed with saddles 33 so that they may be drawn together toward the center by means of a cord that is run around the saddles, holding the arms under tension, thereby making it easier to place the shade cover in position. The cord may be cut, or removed when the cover is in place.

The shade may be used in any position, not only with the socket at top, as here shown, but by means of an adapter, or by variation of hub 12. The shade may be used on any kind of lamp, not only where the shade is screwed on the lamp socket. The longitudinal position of the shade, with respect to the light bulb, may be varied in like manner.

What I claim:

1. A lamp shade comprising a hub adapted to surround and be supported from a lamp fixture, a plurality of spring arms attached to said hub extending outwardly and downwardly from said hub said arms being so attached as to limit their downward movement, a plurality of bars, the-outer end of each arm being freely pivoted to an intermediate position on one of said bars said bars being otherwise unsupported, said bars being adapted to receive and support a surrounding cover andto engage said cover substantially both above and below the -pivot point on each bar, the spring arms being adapted to cause 10 cover.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the attachment of the arms to the .hub comprises a socket on 15 said hub intowhich the arm is fitted, said socket having a member against which the arm is pressed by the spring action to hold the arm in its socket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 365,164 Bulger June 21, 1887 1,774,353 Collins Aug. 26, 1930 1,872,453 Holdeman Aug. 16, 1932 2,304,458 I-Iauskind Dec. 8, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,025 Great Britain Nov. 17, 1893 600,001 France June 23, 1925 

